SAFETY AT QGEM 2015

All QGEM members successfully completed extensive lab safety training, including Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) and BioSafety Training Level 2 to ensure complete safety. All work was performed in research labs with lab technicians and graduate students present during working hours. WHMIS clarified our understanding of any potentially unsafe material we may encounter in the lab such as ethidium bromide, highly concentrated nitric acid, etc. Ethidium bromide was used to visualize DNA on agarose gels, and highly concentrated nitric acid was used for cleaning of certain lab equipment. Any lab members helping to clean this equipment ensured that they wore personal protective equipment (PPE; gloves, lab coats, even face masks). Extra care was taken to ensure that all hazardous materials were used safely and disposed properly.

Low individual and community risk (Risk Group 1) cloning strains of E. coli (K12 strains) in regulation with Canadian Biosafety Standards were used for expressing our constructs. These are non-pathogenic strains of E. coli and do not pose any threat to laboratory workers, the general public, or the environment. Biosafety regulations were followed at all times to ensure that any modified E.coli strains were not introduced to the environment or other people.